CDBABY LINK for THE BLACK: Dead Love Songs --
In the beginning there was an old man at a crossroads. A full moon, a contract, the heart of a lamb buried in the grey dirt of central Massachusetts. This is the stuff of legends, the selling of a soul in exchange for enormous talent. For a moment in the spotlight, only to be cut down before one's time. In the beginning there was Old Man Hansen , alternately a solo acoustic act and a synthpop band . For years he toiled, tirelessly recording, writing,and playing shows. He gained a vision and a focus during this time which would help him in the gathering storm. This vision eventually made him realize that he needed more power, more drive than his beat-up acoustic guitar could supply.
He found this power in the form of a skinny kid with bad teeth. No one was really sure what the kid's real last name was, but he called himself alternately Danny Carbona , and Dan the Boy. Born to American parents in Germany blocks away from where the Sex Pistols were playing in Berlin at the time, it shaped his musical career and tastes. Danny was playing in a band called The Brainless Wonders . Danny was very drunk, and seemed on the verge of destroying either his guitar, himself, or the audience. Or possibly all three in rapid-fire succession.
Asked later about his choice for his rhythm guitar player, Old Man Hansen said "There's a certain amount of contempt in his playing that I could relate to." They played for a while with this line-up, all the while keeping ears to the ground for like-minded musicians.
The next addition was Pete Black , formerly of Cast Iron Hike and Villain. Pete had years of experience in touring, recording, and just generally being a great musician and misanthrope. They jammed in Danny's bandroom until the stench of pissbuckets drove them to Pete's room, which was nicer anyways. Danny took a brief hiatus after this, due to a medical condition he still refuses to discuss. It was during this break that Pete and Old Man Hansen found the drummer, a man named Rich Scales , formerly of the Pathetics; after having auditioned dozens of others. Richie had honed his chops in cover bands for a good while, and was a finely tuned machine, the perfect mean metronome that they were looking for.
Danny came back, stronger and meaner than ever, and they found their keyboard man. Ed Paquette , AKA Eddie Fingers, of Carry the Zero , provided just the right touch of sweetness and light to the boys' thunderstorm. And a legend was born.
